Product Overview
This LitPlan Novel Study for The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is a comprehensive foundation of ready-to-use materials that will ensure your students get the most out of their The Secret Life of Bees novel study.
Practical, flexible, and standards-based with step-by-step plans for the whole novel unit, my LitPlan Novel Study is especially helpful to new teachers or veteran teachers teaching The Secret Life of Bees for the first time.
22 Step-by-Step Daily Lessons guide you and your students through this novel study.
Assignments and Activities are planned for each day of the novel unit.
Vocabulary Worksheets that focus on meaning in context and dictionary definitions go with each reading assignment.
Comprehension Questions and Quizzes follow the reading assignments, so you know if your students are keeping up with their reading and if they are understanding what they are reading.
Writing Assignments are sprinkled throughout this novel study for The Secret Life of Bees, too! Detailed writing assignment sheets guide students' writing.
- The first assignment gives students the opportunity to be creative and informative by writing a short work of historical fiction using a newspaper or magazine article as a basis for their stories.
- In the second writing assignment students write a letter to Lily to send back in time telling her in detail about an event or topic that was alluded to in the novel.
- In the third writing assignment students rewrite the scene when T. Ray comes to get Lily from the calendar sisters. They will write the scene from his point of view trying to persuade Lily to return home with him.
One lesson is also devoted to Leveled Critical Thinking Questions:
- Interpretive Questions require students to simply interpret facts that are given.
- Critical Questions require students to think deeply to develop answers that go beyond what is in the text.
- Personal Response Questions have no right or wrong answer; students formulate and give their own opinions.
A Nonfiction Reading Assignment is incorporated into this novel study unit for The Secret Life of Bees. Students are required to read at least one nonfiction article and view at least one nonfiction video related to the story and complete a short report form analyzing their sources.
A Variety of Additional Activities are woven into this The Secret Life of Bees novel study:
- Mini-lessons
- Diction, Connotation & Denotation
- Characterization
- Figurative Language
- Allusion
- Epigraphs
- Historical Content
- Point Of View
- Oral Reading Evaluation
- Writing Conferences
- Oral Reports
There is a group theme project in this unit. This project requires students to study the text for references to the group's assigned theme, discuss the theme among themselves using a discussion guide, and present information about the theme to the class.
A class period is devoted to Vocabulary Review. Review puzzles, games, and worksheets are provided.
One class period is devoted to Whole-Unit Review in preparation for the unit test. Review puzzles, games, and worksheets are provided.
Five Different Unit Tests are provided on different levels and to use for make-up tests or tests for different classes if you're teaching the book to more than one class at a time. Two are multiple-choice, two are short-answer, and one is advanced short-answer. You can mix-and-match test sections as well.
Evaluation Rubrics are included for some activities.
A page of Bulletin Board Ideas is included.
A page of ideas for Extension Activities is included.
Answer Keys are provided for the short-answer comprehension questions, multiple choice quizzes, vocabulary worksheets, tests, and review materials.
FLEXIBILITY is a key property of this novel study unit for The Secret Life of Bees.
- It is formatted so that you can skip an activity I have planned and plug-in one of your own favorites if you want to.
- You can use all or just parts of this LitPlan.
- Written for whole-class use, but easily adaptable for:
- independent study
- small groups or lit circles
- Homeschooling
- tutoring
A teacher-favorite for years, hundreds of thousands of LitPlans (and Puzzle Packs!) have been used by tens of thousands of teachers in the USA, Canada, and overseas schools, providing reliable, high-quality, standards-based resources for teaching literature. If you want a solid foundation for teaching a work of literature, LitPlans have proved themselves worthy over years of use worldwide.
What Users Have Said About The Secret Life of Bees LitPlan Novel Study Guide:
Katherine K., August 30,2022 - Great calendar that was easy to follow and a unit that seems to touch on everything.
Janet M., March 19, 2020 - My students need a comprehension check for chapters; this provided that. It was easy to use.
Marianne C., March 3, 2020 - I found this easy to use and it has everything I need. It was exactly what I was looking for.
Additional Products available for The Secret Life of Bees:
- Puzzle Pack
- Google Forms Chapter Quizzes
- Interactive PDF Unit Test
- Q&A Presentation
- Combo Pack
- Theme Pack
Copyright Information
All publications are copyrighted materials, with permission granted to print student materials as needed for one teacher's classroom use. Documents may not be reproduced or distributed in any other way without written permission from Teacher's Pet Publications. Posting this document to the Internet where it can come up in search results violates copyright laws and undermines the work of other teachers who are using the unit. Do not post this document on the Internet. I do take the time to look for and prosecute copyright violations to protect myself and my customers.
